Celebrating the art of beginning.

The best way to get something stARTed . . .

You’re watching sausage being made – make that Jello casserole. In writing this blog, I’m figuring it out as I go along, doing something new and something that I’ve resisted for years. Even though I love to write, even though I love the whole idea of exchanging ideas and information with people I’ll never see, I was too SOMETHING to start a blog – too busy, too important, too technically challenged, too private, too afraid to have one more thing calling my name every day.

Then there came the day when I let my inner stARTist do the talking. “What are you waiting for?” she asked. “It doesn’t have to be a literary masterpiece. Let’s make a blog that’s like Jello: sweet, wiggly, nonessential in the diet. There’s always room for Jello.”

So, here’s my recipe for stARTting a blog:

1. turn on your computer.

2. go to wordpress.com

3. follow the instructions

4. write a few thoughts on what you want to write about, as if you’re writing to yourself . . . something you would respond to if you did that kind of thing (can you BELIEVE how many people DO that kind of thing?)

5. send the link to a handful of supportive friends who “get” you

Is this the most efficient way to begin the most effective, compelling blog? With two days under my belt, I can already give you evidence for the resounding “no.” But it is begun. There is a blog where there was none before. I feel sweeter and more wiggly already.

The research process, that boring part that keeps people from starting so many things, can happen while I’m splashing in the creative current. Though I have registered the domain names for Startistry.com, I’m doing this on wordpress, an idiot-proof blog site, using their most basic template. Next week, I’ll investigate how to get rid of the “wordpress” on the url, and the next week I’ll marvel at how stupid I was this week.

My grandma used to say that the best thing about Jello casserole is that no one knows if you followed a recipe or not. (I can tell you that was not nearly the best thing about her Jello casserole, especially the pistachio kind with pineapple.) But she never let planning slow her down, and she would agree with stARTist code #1: